Billy Napier was still preaching accountability when he met with media for his Monday press conference.

“A loss gives you a chance to hit the reset button, recenter,” Napier said. “Everybody kind of gets hit in the gut, and I think sometimes it’s healthy. The key is that you don’t waste it, right?”

A coach taking ownership of a loss is a phenomenon not visited on the Florida program much of late, but it’s a needed one for a program that has spent too long wandering the college football wilderness and off the national stage. Accountability without anger or blame — two of the favorite pathways of Napier’s predecessors after losses — is refreshing.

It also needs to work. To continue to be accountable and see results from that accountability, Florida has to, as Napier put it, not “waste” the loss. Florida needs to use what went wrong against Kentucky as fuel to get better.

Florida’s locker room leadership has emphasized the cultural changes happening under Napier. A year ago, the Gators quit after a loss to archrival Georgia (it is debatable whether Mullen checked out after the loss at Kentucky). They came together to win a Thanksgiving weekend local bragging rights game against rival FSU, but still finished 6-7.

Now, they are at an early crossroads, at least as the 2022 season is concerned. What will they do in the face of the first adversity of the Napier era?

Here are 5 ways the Gators can avoid “wasting” the loss to Kentucky.

Get physical in the run game again 

After bullying a very physical Utah defensive line for 283 yards and 7.5 per carry, the Gators mustered just 136 yards against Kentucky on Saturday night. A 40-yard Montrell Johnson run made up the bulk of those yards, and without it, Florida averaged 3.2 yards per carry.

For the second consecutive year, Florida’s offensive line lost the battle against Kentucky’s defensive front. Despite what you hear on Twitter, which seems convinced that Kentucky is still the Kentucky of the 1990s and 2000s, there’s no shame in being physically beat by a Kentucky front 7 that is among the top 5 in the SEC, if not top 3.

Florida, though, has a quality offensive line, and even with an injury to key depth piece Michael Tarquin, the Gators are deeper than they have been up front since Mullen’s first season, when the Gators finished 2nd in the SEC in rushing offense and success rate. The Gators need to show that Saturday was just a poor performance, not a trend. By establishing a physical run game, the Gators can get back to being efficient on offense.

Yes, Florida needs the good Anthony Richardson back

Career start No. 4 for Anthony Richardson needs to look more like career start No. 2 did than the young quarterback’s abysmal performance against Kentucky.

Richardson ripped up USF in limited action a season ago, running for a long touchdown and throwing this dime downfield to Jacob Copeland:

Nothing about Richardson’s objective talents changed after the Kentucky game. He’s still as big a talent as Florida’s had at the position since Cam Newton and Tim Tebow, two of the greatest players to ever grace the field in the SEC.

Development isn’t linear, and anyone that thinks it is has led a charmed life. Did Richardson come back to earth against an outstanding defense (just as he did against a historically good Georgia defense a year ago?) Absolutely. Richardson, however, was starting his third career game and he played in just 7 games last year as a freshman. Richardson showed most of his talents against Kentucky: a cannon for an arm, the ability to avoid pressure and extend plays with his legs, freakish physicality.

What he needs to do Saturday is put it all together again as he did when Florida beat a top-10 Utah team to open the season.

Build on a strong defensive outing against Kentucky by adding turnovers to the mix

Florida did grab a takeway against Kentucky on a Gervon Dexter interception.

That said, the Gators have taken the ball away just twice in their opening 2 games, and while Amari Burney’s game-winning interception against Utah was massive, Florida would love to be a bit more opportunistic on defense. The Gators finished a dismal 115th in the country in turnover margin (13th in the SEC) in 2021, and losing Saturday night’s turnover battle to Kentucky cost them the game, leading directly to 13 Kentucky points.

Florida’s defensive line showed up and showed out against Kentucky’s rebuilt Big Blue Wall — they need another big game and more pressure to produce big plays Saturday night against South Florida.

Find explosives in the passing game

A less discussed talking point from Saturday night? The impact of the lack of any vertical threat in the passing game.

Ricky Pearsall is steady, and it is clear that Xzavier Henderson has improved and is going to be a reliable possession receiver.

To date, however, the Gators’ long completion to a wide receiver this season is a 28-yard catch and run by Henderson. Pearsall’s long is a 24-yard seam route caught against Kentucky. Florida hasn’t hit an over-the-top deep ball yet, and there’s little evidence anyone on the roster has the speed to take the top off a defense and force a defensive coordinator to move his safeties.

As long as the Gators struggle to play vertically in the passing game, defenses will be able to cheat toward the line and slow the Florida running game. Saturday is a chance to build confidence vertically, whether it be finding Henderson or Pearsall over the top or looking elsewhere for that type of production.

Florida may not solve its vertical passing problem until they sign a new recruiting class. But to not “waste” the Kentucky loss, the search must go on Saturday night.

Four quarters of run defense

Florida has been excellent against the run in the first half of games this season. Both Utah and Kentucky finished the first half against the Gators with under 50 yards rushing. Whether it is fatigue, opponent’s making adjustments, or some combination of both, the Gators haven’t been good in the second half against the run.

Florida is surrendering 150 yards rushing per game, but over 70 percent of that production has come in the second half. Utah bullied the Gators for nearly 200 yards rushing in the second half; Kentucky did not match those numbers but did get Kavosiey Smoke going in the second half, and his 70 second-half rushing yards helped Kentucky play keep away from the Gators after taking a 23-16 lead.

South Florida will be confident in its ability to run the ball after piling up 207 yards in a win over Howard last week. The Bulls also managed to break the century mark in their Week 1 loss to then No. 25 BYU, though they relied mostly on the pass after falling far behind.

Florida, which emphasized getting back to playing great run defense in the offseason after 2 years of sub-top 50 finishes against the run under Todd Grantham, needs to finish a game against the run Saturday night.